My Mismatched Socks

1 Sunday morning-to-afternoon shoot! It basically killed my legs, especially after the MCS concert the night before. But it’s all good, as I loved both the concert and shooting.

2 THIS CUTE TOP! I went back to that stall that I liked in Greenhills, and it was still there! I can’t figure out for the life of me why I didn’t buy it. I swear that if it’s still there the next time I go back, I’m taking it off the racks and paying for it, no questions asked.

3 Kiks & I hung out one evening with Lester (who was back from NY for vacation), Shai, and sir Ali at Momo in Eastwood! We tried this wicked oreos-like dessert. Pretty good, but I still like wicked oreos from Flaming Wings better. :)

4 We had another meeting with BONO! The owner, Rea, bubbly and friendly as she is, let us try her ~secret~ flavors that are yet to be released! April is the month to go visit Bono Artisanal Gelato at SM Makati! Because the summer heat will kill you, and authentic Italian gelato is the way to survive.

5 Tricia & I got our nails done! Can’t get over how they do the stamping! I got an argyle stamp design, because…I like socks.

6 Kiks & his shadow mustache that Tricia couldn’t stop laughing about. :))

7 Did my own hair and makeup(!) for the wedding we attended yesterday! A photo was in order, as this happens very rarely.

8 Picturesque wedding! I loved the chairs, and the lanterns – perfect for the garden setup. :)

9 Trekked unexplored parts of Eastwood and found BAUMKUCHEN! Discovered what it was through Cooking Mama, of all things. Haha! I finally got to taste what I had made with Mama, LOL. It’s good! Basically sweet sponge cake. What makes it different that it’s a layer cake, with the layers being…concentric. WHAT! It’s a little hard to explain. Think of a cake rotisserie. LOL

So far one of my favorite photos from one of my latest shoots! Nope, not Tender Blender-related this time. This was actually a freelance job, haha. Can’t wait to work on all the other photos from this set! :)

One thing I learned about my work as a food photographer:

My gauge to which I measure how much I love a photo is if I start craving for whatever is in it while I edit. Which is awesome, but at the same time horrible — I can’t afford to go out and stuff my face when I have work to do.

Instagram photo I posted earlier today. (Thanks, Karl, for the original picture!) A special post dedicated to this one, because I believe so much in the caption I put for it:

You can tell by the look on my face that I absolutely love what I do. And there, boys & girls, lies the fountain of youth.

As most of you know, I’m a photographer by profession, mostly in a business Kiks, Karl, and I put up back in 2010 after we graduated from college (though I do some freelance work as well whenever I’m offered projects).

I knew sometime in college that I wanted to take photos for the rest of my life. After years of doing what I love, I’ve learned that this is how we find the so-called “Fountain of Youth”. If you’re doing what you love, there will be less reason for you to not be happy. And if you’re happy, you stay young.

The bottom line is, life is short, and you only have one life to live. So make the most of it. Do what you love — nothing less.

tenderblender:

One of the things we love about our job is that we get to work with so many different kinds of people! And that doesn’t mean just our clients — a couple of weeks ago and also a few months back, we were able to work with Seabiscuit Films, a production house that makes awesome videos! We first collaborated late last year to work on a teaser video for Shawarma Bros, a new food truck business that sells super delicious shawarma rice! We were able to work again just this January on a new video for Shawarma Bros’s new product, their Chicken Naan Pockets.

Check out the amazing video shot and edited by Seabiscuit Films, with food styling by Tender Blender! Also, here are a few behind the scenes photos from our shoot day!

Our call-time was at 6:30 in the morning so we were basically fuelled by the great-tasting coffee at Rammy’s.

Seabiscuit’s Director of Photography, Aaron, had brought out a Canon 5D MkIII with a 100mm f/2.8 and I ALMOST DIED WITH ENVY alskgjalghae;gha’igha THE BOKEH IS AMAZING ON IT. But anyway, back to being somewhat composed, watching from behind the camera got us all excited to see the final output! It also burned into my brain what lens I need to get next, LOL.

It really is a whole different thing when we’re hired to do styling for video. The set turns into a beautiful mess!

Rammy, our Shawarma Bro during the day, was our gracious host (and one of our hand talents after our naan bread chef Emerson left later on in the day)! When he wasn’t our talent yet, he watched from behind the camera with the rest of us. :D

Because it was a video shoot, Nicky & Aaron did a lot of the work while we stepped in every now and then to assist with styling food. Kiks occupied himself with Marvel vs. Capcom on his iPad Mini when we had some down time! Haha :)

Dough for the naan bread rolled out! We’d need quite a few for all the takes, and then we’d need to pick the best looking ones for the final dish set up.

Kiks was Tender Blender’s star for the day, as he did most of the styling. He even worked his styling magic to get the steam at 00:27 and 00:36 in the video!

And of course, the final dish! My role in the shoot came at the end, but it was worth getting up at 5 AM! Kudos to everybody at the shoot! Our kind of porn indeed!

With that, we invite you to head on over to Cucina Andare at the Glorietta 3 Park to check out Shawarma Bros and their amazing food! Maybe even take a photo in front of their awesome food truck. :)

OUR KIND OF FOOD PORN!

We styled for a video created by Seabiscuit Films, for Shawarma Bros! Awesome stuff, you guys, awesome stuff.

Instagram Sunday!

1 I love that I still get to have Häagen-Dazs ice cream, thanks to my dad. Woohoo!

2 Watching 2 Broke Girls seems to have influenced my taste in lipstick. I used to be afraid of trying darker lipsticks, but I think they suit me and my red hair and my love for dark clothes better. Kat Dennings, ILY!

3 Speculoos + ice cream = HEAVEEEEEN

4 Woke up before sunrise after aaaaages.

5 Shooting with our new surfaces!

6 And our shoot was for the awesome Chef Laudico! We love how he’s so easy going, and how he styles so quickly and pretty much effortlessly.

7 Kiks gave a talk at the Ateneo ID thesis exhibit! I spy an uninterested student on Facebook? LOL, just kidding.

8 Another shoot in the same week! I could do this foreverrrrrr.

9 Played with bubbles this weekend at our second garage sale. Oh to be a kid. :)